At times in Christian thought, the priorities of pure doctrine and passionate mission have been perceived as opposites on a spectrum where emphasis on one results in neglect of the other, but without one, the other is deficient and doomed to crumble. Mission without doctrine is like a body without a skeleton, but apart from mission, doctrine is like dry bones in a museum. A Lutheran Reformission maintains a dual emphasis, resulting in doctrinal missions as well as missional doctrine.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Q:Is it a sin to use “curse
words” or “foul language?”Where in the
Bible can this be found?

The acceptability of certain language
in our culture is certainly a standard which has seen a great deal of change in
the past two decades.I grew up in the era
of the “Seven words you can’t say on Television,” which seems to have been a
transitional time which left behind the excessively-conservative portrayals of
marriedcouples sleeping in separate
twin beds, but preceded broad availability of networks such as HBO, Showtime,
and MTV, where nearly anything goes.

During those times, I remember being
instructed, sometimes even by well-meaning Lutheran School Teachers, that there
were certain words one ought not say because they are sinful.This reflects one side a divide that often
exists regarding the morality of using certain language.Some teach that there are certain topics that
are not permitted for discussion or combinations of syllables that are immoral
to vocalize, while others take the approach that, since there is no list of
forbidden words in Scripture, that anything goes.I remember once hearing it said that there is
no commandment reading, “Thou shalt not say **** an awful lot.”

These opposing positions are both
partially correct.On one hand, there is
no Biblical law regarding certain four-letter English words (since English as
we know it did not yet exist in the first century A.D.) or outlawing the
discussion of certain topics.On the
other hand, the Bible does frequently speak about our use of language.

For example, Jesus’ brother James
speaks in his letter about “taming the tongue,” and Jesus speaks once in the
Gospel of Matthew against the use of “idle words.”Several verses throughout the Bible,
especially in Proverbs, encourage pure speech and maintaining a good reputation
before one’s neighbors, but none of them specify the content of that speech in
such a way that certain words are permitted or forbidden.

Additionally, the apostle Paul says
in 1 Corinthians that “everything is permissible, but not all are beneficial,”
and in both 1 Corinthians and Romans, he discusses how Christians ought to
treat their “weaker brother” on matters which are neither commanded nor
forbidden by God’s law.

Most Christians regard the Ten
Commandments as the foremost summary of God’s law for humanity.Many of them would point to the Second
Commandment, which says, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God,”
as forbidding the use of certain words.This is true, but this commandment only forbids misusing God’s
name.This means that Christians ought
to use the names and titles ascribed to God by the Bible in the ways that He
has commanded, but what about those other words that do not involve God’s name?

Some of the other commandments can be
helpful in this respect.For example,
for children to use language forbidden by their parents, teachers, or other
authorities would be to sin against the 4th Commandment.To use language in such a way that harms
another person, either by damaging their reputation or by being verbally
abusive or intimidating, would be a sin against the 5th or 8th
commandments.And, to use language in a
way that is sexually indecent would be a sin against the 6th
commandment.

In light of these verses and
commandments indicated above, we could probably conclude that the traditional
list of “naughty words” is pretty accurate, but not for the reasons usually
argued, and that not only they, but many of the other ways that we typically
use language, are also not in harmony with God’s commands.Even in the case where we could not say we
have a clear command from God regarding a word or phrase being sinful, the
Bible encourages us to consider how our actions will affect our reputation in
the world or the state of our neighbors with a weaker conscience.

In the end, it is not the
vocalization of certain syllables, but the manner in which we use our words and
the impact they have on our neighbor that informs its use.Therefore we ought to choose our words
carefully and consider their impact before we speak.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Q:What are the beliefs that
define what a Christian is?What is the
least a person could believe and still be considered a Christian?

There is a short statement which
appears a few times in the New Testament, which answers this question in three
words.“Jesus is Lord.”A Christian is a person who acknowledges that
Jesus is Lord.

As simple as that seems, these three
words mean a lot more than it seems at first glance.They aren’t a phrase that each person can
infuse with their own meaning or interpretation, but they actually make a very
radical statement.

Jesus – a certain Jewish man, born in
Nazareth just over 2000 years ago, who lived approximately 33 years, whose
cause of death was crucifixion carried out by Roman soldiers, and who rose to
life on the third day following His crucifixion and death.

Is – means exactly what it says.Not “represents,” “symbolizes,” “displays
qualities of,” “appeared to be,” or any similar elaboration.If it were a math equation, you would use the
equals sign.This makes “Jesus” and
“Lord” equivalent terms—they are interchangeable.

Lord – This is the word that carries
all the weight.While the word does have
a meaning of “Master” or “Ruler,” this is rarely the meaning that it carries in
the New Testament.Instead, it means
something far more significant the majority of the times it is used in the
Bible.

In the Old Testament, God’s name as
He revealed it was equivalent to the English letters YHWH.In some Bibles, whenever you see the word Lord spelled in capital letters in the
Old Testament, it means this word was used.Because the Second Commandment warned against misusing the God’s name,
it eventually became common practice not to use God’s name at all.Instead, they would substitute other words,
such as HaShem (which translates as
“the Name”) or Adonai (which
translates to “Lord/Master”), and when they read out loud, they would say these
words instead of YHWH.

When the New Testament authors wanted
to use God’s name, they used the Greek word Kurios,
which was equivalent to “Adonai/Lord/Master.”So, in the New Testament, the majority of the times one sees the English
word “Lord,” it is a translation of a translation of a word that was the
substitute for God’s proper name.

So, to say “Jesus is Lord” is to say
that Jesus is God, Jesus is YHWH, God became man, God was born, God died, God
rose from the dead, God paid the penalty even though we committed the sins
which angered Him, God ascended into heaven and will come again to judge the
living and the dead in the same body in which He performed all of the
previously mentioned acts, and in which He awaits the last day when He will
come again.

Over the years which followed the
death of Jesus’ Apostles, different ideas frequently arose which challenged this
teaching about who Jesus was as taught by the Apostles and recorded in the New
Testament.In response to these new
teachings, the Church compiled statements called creeds, which clarified which
of these teachings were in harmony with the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles
and which were contrary.Today, we call
these the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.

While there are numerous religious
movements which consider themselves Christian, the definitions of God and the
understandings about Jesus within them are sometimes so different that
independent scholars of comparative religion can no longer consider them
segments of the same religion.

When these scholars classify
religious movements, it is two primary doctrines, as expressed in the previously-mentioned
creeds, which they take into account.The first of these is the Trinity—that God is three persons (Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit), yet one God, and the second is that Jesus is both fully
God and fully Human, yet one person.They classify any religious movement that holds these two doctrines as
Christian.Any movement that teaches
differently they classified separately.

Of course, it is impossible for us to
know for sure what another person truly believes, so when discussing these
questions, it is not the individual faith of a person which is in question, but
the written teachings of the movement or denomination, since individual beliefs
often differ either knowingly or unknowingly from those of the religious organization
to which they belong.

In the end, however, the question is
not “How much can I disagree and still
be considered a Christian?” but rather “What is True?”

Lutheranism is more than a cultural identity or a denominational label. In fact, this cultural and institutional baggage may be the primary obstacle in Lutheranism’s path.

To be a Lutheran is not dependent on a code of behavior or a set of common customs. Instead, to be a Lutheran is to receive Jesus in His Word, Body, and Blood for the forgiveness of sins in the Divine Service; and to be bearers of this pure Truth to a broken world corrupted with sin, death, and every lie of the devil and man’s own sinful heart.

While the false and misleading ideas of human religious invention are appealing to sin-blinded minds, they fail when exposed to the realities of life. It is tragic when souls are led to confusion and despair because of the false religious ideas with which they are surrounded. The Biblical doctrine taught by the Apostles and restored at the Reformation holds answers which are relevant regardless of time or place and offers assurance of forgiven sins and eternal life who all who believe its message.

I am a husband, a father, the pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Burt, IA, and track chaplain at Algona Raceway.